Melissa LangdonGreetings, wherever this humble periodical might find you. Whether you’re from a Long Island suburb, a Hollywood bungalow, or a Midwestern dairy farm, St. Louis is about to be your new home, and it’s time to get the lay of the land. Lucky for you, Team Cadenza has the skinny on everything from record stores to concert venues to symphonies to strip clubs. Hang on to this guide, bring it to the Lou, and you’ll be prepared for all the excitement a [vehicle-less, underage] college student can handle!
Music Stores
Vintage Vinyl and Streetside Records (The Loop)
If you’re like us, a record store can become kind of like a dope pusher feeding your addiction, albeit in a safe, totally legal sort of way. Well, if record stores are hustlers, then Vintage Vinyl is Dolemite. Combining the size of a Sam Goody with the obscure selection and hipper-than-thou air of the store from “High Fidelity,” Vintage Vinyl stands head and shoulders above most music stores in St. Louis or anywhere else. People realize this, too: Vintage is the epicenter of the Loop, equivalent to a Middle Ages town cathedral (and hey, both reek of incense!). All of this makes Streetside Records’ continued existence down the street more and more puzzling. Bought out by a larger chain, Streetside has rapidly deteriorated into a boring, corporate pop peddler. Like a dirty movie and a six-pack of beer on a Friday night, it’s pretty much a last resort.
Euclid Records (601 East Lockwood)
If you are able to procure a car or are just really, really into biking, make sure to stop by Euclid Records in the heart of Webster Groves (a.k.a. “Dub G”). The CD selection is nice, the used selection is nicer, but the real treasure trove is their sizeable record collection, which will keep vinyl heads more than happy.
Record Exchange (5320 Hampton Ave.)
Speaking of records, the Record Exchange is only for the bravest of crate-diggers. Housing enough vinyl to entertain the entire population of St. Louis, this former public library will stupefy you with its selection. There are also a few used CDs available for the digital age music fan, but at the Exchange, wax is king.
Book Stores
Subterranean Books (6275 Delmar)
Whether you’re looking for My Antonia or My Pet Goat, you want your reading material to be good and cheap. Happily, St. Louis offers several used bookstores to help you get down on the Updike and back on the Kerouac. The closest place is Subterranean, an unassuming little joint on the east side of the Loop. Within its walls, however, you’ll find poetry, philosophy, the occult, and even erotic lit. Fairly small but also fairly priced, Subterranean can supply you with a good alternative to your classmates’ E. Comp. essays.
Left Bank Books (399 North Euclid Ave.)
The top floor of this Central West End shop has a great selection of new material, but the diamonds in the rough (i.e. used stuff for cheap college kids) are downstairs. While not as cram-packed with obscure goodness as Subterranean, Left Bank is much more fun and proud of its independent status, with an informative website, regular book signings, reading groups, and special sections like the “Queer Reading Room.”
Concert Venues
The Pageant (6161 Delmar)
Chances are your first college concert will either be WILD or some Pageant gig. The Pageant’s within walking distance, it’s got great acoustics, and it manages to attract good artists at decent prices. In the past two years it has hosted Wilco, the Roots, Robert Randolph, the Strokes, the Flaming Lips, De La Soul and Ben Folds, just to name a few student favorites. Its only problem is that it’s just too clean-cut. Some music fans will no doubt appreciate its high walls and open spaces; others will yearn for a crowded, intimate sweatfest. The well-groomed Pageant won’t necessarily provide that, but you can count on a number of great acts. The Pageant is also your best bet for rap and R&B shows, as everywhere else is pitifully lacking.
The Creepy Crawl (412 N. Tucker)
Like it sounds. A dismal, poster-strewn, black-walled punk club that sometimes has a chain link fence separating the bar from the rest of the club. That being said, it can be an awesome place to catch a show! The cover is usually super cheap, and the stage might as well be in your own living room, it’s that accessible. For most of the month, the calendar features a rotating cast of crappy local punk bands, but every now and then you’ll get a Rapture, a Ted Leo, a Fall, or a Junior Senior (my favorite show last year). The Creepy Crawl also wins the award for “shoddiest web page design.” To get to the Creepy Crawl, take the Metrolink to the 8th and Pine stop, take Pine west to Tucker and hang a right.
The Rocket Bar (2001 Locust)
More indie-friendly than the Creepy Crawl, the Rocket Bar is a great place to go check out St. Louis’s budding hipster community. You’ll find Chuck T’s and thrift store t-shirts in vast quantities as the kids get down to hardcore, mathcore, emocore, and of course, applecore. The setup is weird, with the stage lying above the general bar area, but it’s usually easy to get a good spot. Like the Creepy Crawl, the Rocket Bar is just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the Metrolink. Just get off at Union Station, go north on 18th street, and take a left on Locust.
Mississippi Nights (914 N. 1st Street)
The middle ground between the Pageant and St. Louis’s smaller clubs. Affordable shows, good bands, and plenty of opportunities to get close to the stage. The range of bands and genres is nearly limitless-witness the Mars Volta, My Morning Jacket, Medeski, Martin, and Wood, Rooney, Rusted Root, Gillian Welch and They Might be Giants. You can hang around Laclede’s Landing afterwards and see how long it takes you to get thrown out of the bars. Just a short walk up 1st street from the Metrolink station.
The Infierno Room (1403 Washington Avenue)
The Infierno Room is St. Louis’ newest punk rock club. Doubling as a good, cheap Mexican restaurant during the day, at night it turns into a sweaty, loud bastion of noise. The place has no stage, and the bands play by the door, so get in early unless you want to have to walk through a mass of thrashing guitarists and risk a severe head wound upon entering. The shows are booked by Elvis Kennedy of St. Louis’ punk heroes The Dead Celebrities, and he knows his shit, putting the best new and young bands on the non-stage for your underground enjoyment.
Lemp Neighborhood Arts Center (3301 Lemp Avenue)
This venue is the home to cheap (often donation only) shows featuring the most underground of St. Louis local and national acts. Centered mostly around punk and hardcore, they do branch out to feature art rock, noise, and performance art as well.
Movie Theaters
The Tivoli (6350 Delmar)
Your closest, best bet for independent films and general zaniness. The Tivoli (always under scrutiny by paranoid prudes because its phallic sign says “I LOV IT” upside-down) shows feature length movies, documentaries, animated shorts and, of course, helps to host the annual St. Louis International Film Festival. Also great for its midnight movie screenings, which will include “The Princess Bride,” “Fight Club” and “The Big Lebowski” this fall.
The Hi-Pointe (1005 McCausland Ave.)
The Hi-Pointe has only one screen, but it usually shows a winner, like last year’s “Lost in Translation” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” Cool retro d‚cor, including turquoise seats, makes it a great place to catch a flick.
The Plaza Frontenac (210 Plaza Frontenac)
If you can make it out to this establishment, do so by all means. A bizarre theater indeed, the Frontenac is housed within the chic Plaza Frontenac Shopping Center, a sort of oasis for sweater-draped old businessmen and Stepford wives. It often features some of the most limited release movies in town, though, including “Thirteen” and “Nowhere in Africa” last year, two great films that didn’t appear anywhere else.
The Chase Park Plaza (212 N. Kingshighway Blvd.)
A great place to take a date after a nice dinner in the Central West End. They always show a good selection of mainstream and smaller films, plus they are kind enough to offer a student discount. Try your luck ordering from their wine and cheese bar, and if that doesn’t work, take the elevator up to the Chase Park’s swanky Caf‚ Eau lounge and mingle with the beautiful people.
Museums
The City Museum (701 North 15th Street)
If college is a scatter-brained intellectual playground, the City Museum is its materialized counterpart. The trampling of a small child by an overeager adult is not an uncommon occurrence in this urban oasis. Outside, MonstroCity displays a congeries of discarded metals and plane debris welded into a massive beast for all to climb about. Inside, kids and adults ascend metal mazes and descend multi-story slides, while the physically inactive opt for arts and crafts on the second floor. The City Museum also hosts a number of nerdy comic book conventions and the like, in addition to weekly movies at Beatnik Bob’s Caf‚ (drinking and smoking encouraged).
The Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts (3716 Washington Blvd.)
The Pulitzer Foundation is a sort of museum, but so much more. The foundation’s main emphasis involves getting a whole bunch of really smart artists, architects and designers together to talk about how beautiful the building looks with their works of art in it (the building was designed to hold specific pieces and installations in specific areas). Pretentious and nerdy, indeed, but a Saturday afternoon spent walking around in a “docent-led group visit” should provide you more than enough conversation juice to razzle-dazzle the pseudo-intellectuals teeming about campus.
Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (3750 Washington Blvd.)
The 22-year-old Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis refuses to wrap its arms around a permanent collection. The non-collecting museum exists solely to exhibit works by promising artists on the local, national and international level. It’s also the location of TEMPT. It sounds like a hot night club, but in reality it’s merely an upscale caf‚, courtesy of the culinary genius, Wolfgang Puck.
International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame (111 Stadium Plaza)
Bowling isn’t just some white-trash-beer-guzzling-nasty-smelling-shoe sport. According to the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame, people from 90 different countries take pleasure in knocking down pins with their friends. The entry level on the IBMHF exhibits the highlights of the 5,000 year history of bowling. The lower level features “The History of Bowling,” a movie about-you guessed it-bowling. Also found below street level are some old-time and modern bowling lanes that visitors can actually play on. The IBMHF is very excited about providing this service. Don’t forget a picture in front of the Bowling Hall of Fame trademark, the Bowling Pin Car.
St. Louis Art Museum (1 Fine Arts Drive, Forest Park)
Originally built as the Fine Arts Palace for the 1904 World’s Fair, and located close to campus in Forest Park, the St. Louis Art Museum now houses some of the finest visual art in the world. Inside, an array of both permanent and visiting collections await you, and admission is always free. Small fees may be required for visiting exhibits, but on Fridays, even these shows are free to the public: the perfect price for a college student on a budget.
Laumeier Sculpture Park (12580 Rott Road)
Located on the grounds of the Laumeier mansion, this outdoor sculpture park is only the fourth park of its nature to be built in the world. On the grounds, visitors can view the outdoor sculptures set in a natural atmosphere or peruse the mansion’s indoor galleries. The Sculpture Park also plays host to a wide variety of dance performances, concerts, and special events throughout the year. Admission is free and the park is open all year from 7 am until sundown.
The Sheldon Concert Hall and Art Galleries (3648 Washington Blvd.)
The Sheldon houses a sculpture garden and six art galleries changing continuously throughout the year that feature photography, architecture, jazz history and local artists. The concert hall caters to a bit of an older crowd, but every once in a while, that person you thought you’d never see in concert ends up playing The Sheldon. David Byrne will be playing there this fall for a mere $70. It might be wise to hold out for another, more affordable, experience at The Sheldon, but it’s worth the chunk of change.
Theaters
Fox Theatre (527 N. Grand Blvd.)
Originally built in 1929 and immediately deemed “St. Louis’ largest and most magnificent temple of amusement,” the Fox Theater continues to be a cultural Mecca, constantly filling its 4500-person capacity with its array of concerts, family shows and live entertainment. Perhaps best known for its Broadway series, next year, the Fox will play host to, among others, “Stomp,” “Chicago,” “Rent,” “Les Miserables,” “Wonderful Town” and “The Producers.” If you’re looking for a cheap night out on the town, the Fox won’t fit the bill; the cheapest tickets for most shows (those in the Upper Balcony) usually range form $40 to $50 per person, and seats on the Orchestra or Mezzanine levels are always a bit more. However, if you’re looking to be surrounded by the grandeur of pre-Depression-era decadence and can’t wait to be humming the score to “Oklahoma,” then the Fox is an ideal weekend destination.
The ArtLoft Theatre (1529 Washington Ave.)
Located on Wash. Ave., this classic blackbox, which only seats 160, is currently St. Louis’ only downtown venue for live theater. Home to three theater companies; New Line Theatre, Hothouse Theatre Company, and Magic Smoking Monkey Theatre; the ArtLoft is open 40 weeks out of the year and produces a wide variety of work throughout their season, ranging from experimental musical theater to Shakespeare. Most of the time, tickets are fairly inexpensive and the ArtLoft is located just a couple of blocks away from the Union Station MetroLink stop. So, if vehicular transportation is hindering you from a long-awaited cultural enlightenment, just hop on the train and prepare yourself for an evening of fun, edgy and creative theater.
Opera Theatre of St. Louis (130 Edgar Road)
For those preferring slightly higher-brow entertainment than that provided by your average Rodgers and Hammerstein show, feel free to check out the Opera Theatre, located in the Loretto-Hilton Center at Webster University. The Opera Theatre features many well-known operas performed entirely in English, making them accessible to the average person. The O.T. has both spring and summer seasons, and tickets can be purchased on the O.T. website.
The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis (130 Edgar Road)
For the past 40 years, the Rep has provided St. Louis with some of the best regional theater around. In its 2004-2005 season the Rep will feature, among others, “The Crucible,” “Twelfth Night” and the murder-mystery musical (one of my personal favorites), “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” in which the audience gets to select the ending. The Rep also performs at the Loretto-Hilton Center at Webster University, and tickets can be purchased online.
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (718 N. Grand Blvd.)
Besides the occasional frat party, mixer, or sorority formal, as an undergraduate student (in a world where one can crawl to class in their pajama bottoms and favorite hoodie) there are very few reasons to really get dressed up for a night out on the town. But if you’re looking for a formal evening out and Beethoven tickles your fancy more than the latest Chingy album, the symphony may be a perfect weekend destination. Located in the historic Powell Hall on North Grand Boulevard, the symphony offers a wide variety of classical performances throughout the year. Tickets can be a bit pricey, but student discounts are available for season tickets, and “rush” tickets are available 30 minutes before the performance at half-price.
Adult Entertainment
Boxers ‘n Briefs (55 Four Corners Lane, Centreville, IL)
The Chippendales dancers only wish they could be this gritty and real. Boxers ‘n Briefs is the premier male nightclub of the Midwest, boasting a logo of “all male, all nude, all the time.” These talented gentlemen shame professional gymnasts in their ability to contort their bodies into any desired position. Picture a slithering snake scaling toward you from a tree branch, and that’s just a taste. For a special experience of B ‘n B, go on a Sunday night when Miss (actually Mr., but you didn’t read that here) Taylor DeMornee overshadows the dancers with her (his) variety show full of singing, dancing and jokes galore about the glory of the phallus.
Diamond Cabaret (1401 Mississippi Ave, East St Louis, IL)
The female dancers of Diamond Cabaret bare those body parts which the dancers of B ‘n B cannot. The dancers are more than kind to their guests, as long as the dollar bills keep coming their way. Beware of wearing a belt and being invited onstage, for soon you will find yourself leashed and crawling like a dog, with your boxer shorts torn and ass cheeks covered in rum and coke. But it’s all in good, pornographic fun.